Council Bluffs, Iowa -- The Indian Hills men's track and field squad turned in some outstanding individual performances when the Warriors competed in the Region XI Championship Meet hosted by Iowa Western Community College May 4-5.
Day one of the Region XI Championships proved to be a fruitful one for the Warriors. Three Indian Hills men qualified for finals in the 100m dash. Kenny Bednarek led the way with the fastest prelim time (10.44). Tyler Dunigan had the fourth fastest (10.68) while Mason Lanhart had a personal best and eighth place finish in the prelims (10.95). The men qualified two more individuals for the finals in the 110 hurdles. Mason Aschenbrenner and Kaleb Schneider both had personal bests, Aschenbrenner finishing fourth (15.08) and Schneider eighth (16.62) in the prelims. The men's 4x800 also competed on Saturday, finishing fourth. The field events had a successful day one as James Pleasant finished runner up in the javelin. Three Warrior men placed in the long jump. Tracy Gates led the way with a school record leap of 6.70m. Dunigan was close behind in 6.69. Lanhart jumped 6.55m to finish in the top eight. The trio finished fifth, sixth and eighth overall.
The second day of the meet brought two more school records for the men. Gates continued his impressive meet, jumping 13.87 meters in the triple jump to take sixth place and break his previous school record. Bednarek ran his first 400 meter race since winning the NJCAA national title indoors. The freshman phenom broke the school record, winning the event with a time of 45.62 seconds. That is currently the fastest time in the NJCAA by over a half-second. Other impressive performances included a second and fourth place finish in the high jump by Caleb Cowles and Damond Anderson. Cowles jumped 2.00 meters while Anderson went 1.95 meters to set a two-inch personal best. Elijah Barnes helped out in the field events as well garnering a second place finish in the shot put (15.83m) and a third place finish in the discus (44.52m).The distance crew had an impressive outing as well. Michael DeMeyer dropped down in distance to run the 1500 meters, placing third in 4:07.42, while Conner Riley was close behind in fifth with a time of 4:10.08. Clayton Grainger crossed the line in fifth in the 5000 meter run (16:41). Zach Schocker scored valuable points in the steeplechase by finishing fifth. The Warrior men finished 5-6 in the 100 meter finals with Dunigan and Lanhart running 10.77 and 11.23, respectively. The hurdlers picked up significant points, finishing 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 8th. Aschenbrenner had a stellar race, finishing first for the Warriors with a personal best of 56.27. Schneider finished in 59.02 with Carlon Steward close behind in 59.08. Elijah Boesch rounded out the top eight with a time of 1:02.42. Aschenbrenner and Schneider also placed in the 110 hurdles. Aschenbrenner collected a fourth place finish (15.16) while Schneider was seventh (16.76).
Next up the Warriors will head to Hobbs, New Mexico to compete in the NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 16-18, hosted by New Mexico Junior College. Those representing the Warriors will be: Kenny Bednarek (200 meters, 400 meters, 4x100), Marcus Graham (5000, 10,000), Michael DeMeyer (5000 and 10,000), Elijah Barnes (shot put, discus), Tyler Dunigan (100 meters, 4x100), Joshua Raphael (4x100), Mason Lanhart (4x100), Caleb Cowles (high jump), Carlon Steward (400 meter hurdles) and Tracy Gates (triple jump).